The Council of the European Union is ready to start negotiations with the European Parliament over a proposal for a Regulation establishing the single financial instrument for ‘Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation’ (NDICI) in the future EU budget 2021–2027.
The ambassadors of the EU-27 to the EU (Coreper) agreed on Friday 18 September to the full negotiating mandate and that there is no need for formal adoption by the EU Council, a source told EUROPE.
The European Parliament itself has been ready for a long time (see EUROPE 12425/17, 12345/15).
The NDICI merges ten EU external financing instruments, including the European Development Fund and the Defence Fund.
The EU Council's negotiating mandate implements the political guidelines provided by the marathon-length European Council held in July (see EUROPE 12532/2) concerning the structure of the NDICI instrument, budget allocations, and carryover rules, i.e. the carrying over of funds from one year to the next.
The aim of the inter-institutional negotiations in trilogue is to reach an agreement before the end of this year.
This regulation had been proposed on 14 June 2018, under the framework of the 'Juncker' Commission's draft Multiannual Financial Framework 2021–2027. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)